Forex Trading Platform’s CEO Pleads Guilty To Defrauding Investors

The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, made a significant announcement regarding the outcome of a case involving EDDY ALEXANDRE, the mastermind behind the fraudulent foreign exchange trading platform known as EminiFX.

According to the announcement, ALEXANDRE has been found guilty of soliciting investments worth over $248 million from tens of thousands of unsuspecting individual investors.

He achieved this through the dissemination of false information and misrepresentations in connection with the EminiFX platform. U.S. District Judge John P. Cronan accepted the guilty plea from the defendant, bringing this chapter in the ongoing battle against financial crime to a close.

Eddy’s Guilty Plea

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams spoke out about the guilty plea of EDDY, stating that the defendant admitted to tricking investors into investing in his fraudulent forex scheme by lying about weekly returns of at least 5%.

The reality was far from what he promised as he failed to invest a significant portion of the funds, instead misappropriating some of the money for personal use.

This malicious scheme resulted in investors losing millions of dollars, and Williams emphasized that this case should serve as a stark reminder to all executives operating in the forex and crypto industry that the Southern District of New York is vigilant in its efforts to crack down on financial misconduct.

How Did Eddy Defraud Everyone?

EDDY ALEXANDRE founded and ran EminiFX, Inc., using it to solicit investments worth more than millions of Dollars. He marketed EminiFX as a platform that would provide passive income to its users through automated investments in the crypto and foreign exchange markets.

ALEXANDRE promised his investors high returns and claimed to have proprietary technology that would guarantee these returns.

He misled investors by claiming that they would double their money within five months through weekly returns of at least 5%, with the help of a Robo Advisor Assisted accounts for the trading. EDDY referred to this technology as his “trade secret” and refused to reveal its nature to anyone.

Each week, the EminiFX website falsely reported to investors that they had earned returns of at least 5%, which they could either withdraw or reinvest.

However, the truth of the matter was that the forex trading platform did not earn the promised weekly returns for its investors.

As mentioned earlier, EDDY ALEXANDRE failed to invest a substantial portion of the funds that were entrusted to him by investors, and the limited amount of money that he did invest resulted in losses, which he kept hidden from the investors.

Instead of using the funds as he had promised, ALEXANDRE misused at least $14.7 million of the funds for his personal gain. For instance, he used $155,000 of investor funds to purchase a BMW car for himself and spent an additional $13,000 on car payments for a Mercedes Benz.

A Look at the Guilty Plea

Now, EDDY has entered a guilty plea for one count of commodities fraud. As part of his plea, he has agreed to pay a forfeiture of $248,829,276.73 and an amount of restitution to be determined by the court. The charge of commodities fraud carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Final Thoughts

It’s worth noting that the maximum sentence mentioned is merely a guideline set by Congress and the actual sentence that the defendant will receive will be determined by the judge. The sentencing hearing is scheduled to take place on July 12, 2023, in front of Judge John P. Cronan.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams applauded the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and expressed gratitude to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for their role in bringing the case forward.

The case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jared Lenow and Nicholas Folly overseeing the prosecution.